The magnitude of the Week 18 matchup between the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts has been felt throughout each city and each fan base as they have flooded their social media timelines and radio airwaves, giving their key to victories for each team.
Indianapolis’s Week 2 win over the Texans cannot depict how this matchup will play out, as that game was played nearly four months ago. Both head coaches have admitted throughout numerous press conferences this week that their teams have grown throughout the season.
The only thing for sure is that Houston will come into the game with the confidence of knowing that as long as quarterback C.J. Stroud, a rookie, is calling the shots on the offensive side of the ball, they have a chance to do what many naysayers believed was impossible to do before the season started in making the playoffs.
“It feels good to have him back,” wide receiver Nico Collins told Texans Wire. “He knows what he has to do to lead this team to victory. We are going to have his back 100 percent of the way, and he knows that as well. We trust him, he trusts us, and we are all in this thing together. It is a big game. We have to be locked in on the details and preparations. We are going to show the world what we are about.”
With the game being played in a prime-time television spot (7 p.m. CST), all eyes will be on who many believe will be the 2023 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in Stroud, who, despite missing two games this season due to a concussion has had a fantastic rookie season with 3,844 yards passing and 21 touchdowns. His ability to protect the ball has made him so effective, having only thrown five interceptions.
Texans QB C.J. Stroud on his game plan input:
“I feel like for everybody – year one to year 15, whatever that is – protecting the ball puts trust into your coordinator that he can call a play, and if it’s not there, you’ll be smart with it and not make a bad play worse.” #Sarge pic.twitter.com/h2F0uxXpkW— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) January 3, 2024
Indianapolis is well aware of what Stroud is capable of, having seen him throw for 384 yards and two touchdowns in their Week 2 matchup. Since then, the former Ohio State superstar has gotten more comfortable calling plays and manipulating the pocket.
“He’s very talented,” said Colts defensive coordinator Gus Bradley about Stroud. “First of all, he plays with great poise. He handles pressures; he handles looks, and he handles different schemes very well. He gets the ball out timely. Does he hold it some? Yeah, because they take some shots, but it is timely when it is the quick game and when it’s in their intermediate passes.”
“His accuracy is very good, so – very poised, accurate, playing above the level of being a rookie. I think at this point in time, he’s not a rookie because of the looks that he’s seen. He’s playing very well for them right now. I think they’re third or something in explosive passes. I know very high, I think the analytics told us so. He does a great job with the threats he has on the outside.”
Coming into Saturday’s game, Stroud will be given more autonomy from offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik than he had in only his second NFL game of the season in Week 2. He has shown a propensity to handle most situations thrown his way by defensive coordinators trying to force him into rookie mistakes. Slowik has seen the growth from his quarterback and will likely devise a game plan with Stroud’s fingerprints all over it.
“Yeah, we have a good mixture of conversation and input that we get to put in there for the gameplan,” Stroud said. “I’ve been trying to get more involved and things like that, and it’s just a conversation going between the quarterback room and Bobby [Slowik] and stuff like that, so it’s been a lot more of just the trust factor that I’ve been able to protect the ball really well and things like that, and that’s really big going into your first year. I’ve been able to ask for certain things and get certain looks and do different stuff, and it’s been good. Hopefully, we’ll just keep building that.”